Zero Falls: Season One

The Deep End-Part One

On one excruciatingly hot day, the group were huddled in the living room of the shack, as the heat exhausted them.

"Arrgh!" Mabel groaned, leaning against the TV.

"Translation, please," Bill asked Dipper.

"She can't take the heat anymore," Dipper replied, waving a paper fan at his face rapidly.

Wendy came out from inside the kitchen, bits of frost stuck in her hair. "OK, I only managed to stick my head in the freezer for 20 minutes before I started suffocating. Any suggestions on how we can cool off?"

"I'm too dehydrated to think," Will complained. "This is probably the hottest day of the summer."

"I know right," Bill said. He turned to a figure sitting on the sofa. It was Stan, and he seemed unfazed by the heat. "I wonder what despicable person allowed this."

Stan gave him a sideways glance. "Heh, are you talking to me?"

"Yes!" Bill snapped. "You control the sun! What is with this weather?"

Stan shrugged. "Being a sun deity, sometimes I see how much I can get away with being the biggest jerk possible, just for the heck of it."

"Prime example: Australia," Dipper said.

"You're way too chaotic," Mabel told her uncle.

"Only when I'm off my special medicine," Stan replied.

Just then, an advertisement popped on the TV, and as though luck struck them, it was about a new pool opening.

"A pool? This is great!" Mabel beamed, standing up.

"We should go now, before it gets full," Dipper pointed out.

Stan leaned back in the sofa. "Have fun, kids. I'll look after the shack while you're gone."

"Don't set anything on fire, old man," Bill said, before following the rest of the group out.

"Like I was going to," Stan muttered, softly. "Probably."

❇❇❇

Later, the group arrived at the pool, wearing swimsuits. The area was packed with people, but fortunately, it wasn't too full.

"Ah, the pool," Mabel said, blissfully. "A sparkling oasis of summer enchantment."

"Nothing beats going in a tub with strangers," Bill remarked. "It's like the public bus, but wet."

"Try to have some fun," Will told him. "And don't try to drown Dipper."

"I think it'll be the other way around, Will," Dipper chuckled.

"Haha, very funny," Bill deadpanned. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be swimming, pretending you guys don't exist." Then, he walked off.

"Pfft, his loss," Mabel claimed. "Because the rest of us are gonna have fun--Wait a minute, who's that?"

She pointed to the edge of the pool, where a young man with tanned skin, long hair, and stubble on his top lip was relaxing in the sun. Wendy looked at him, and she made a look of recognition.

"Yeah, he's quite a loner," Wendy told Mabel. "Some say he never leaves the pool."

"And his skin never gets pruny?" Will questioned, slightly amazed.

Meanwhile, Mabel was gazing at the stranger. "Is it hot out here, or is it just that guy?" She giggled.

"It's the hottest day of the summer," Dipper told her. "Also, can you go one minute without having a random crush?"